I work in Oncology. I know life isn’t fair. I know suffering is a senseless part of the human equation. Denying the inevitability of suffering isn’t going to get us anywhere.

Brio is what I created as a denominator in the equation, a little something to divide the impact of cancer on your life into tidy, manageable parts so you can take them and rebuild, make them into something better than you could have imagined before.

I’ve dedicated a lot of time to the topic on the blog this month because anxiety and worry are essentially a universal part of the survivor experience. Anxiety should be acknowledged, treated, and monitored carefully. You, cancer survivor, deserve at least that.

But in this post, I’d like to take a different approach to worry and anxiety because sometimes, I wish you would let your cancer care team worry about your cancer recurrence risk so you can worry about something far more important.

Mindfulness practices are a real bargain for cancer survivors - If you spend just a few minutes of your day in meditation or yoga, you’ll glean multiple physical and mental health benefits. I encourage you to read this post to gain an understanding of how a regular mindfulness practice can make you feel great after cancer.

A whopping 18-25 percent of long term cancer survivors report anxiety symptoms. That’s a large percentage. What that number tells me is that we’ve got to do better taking care of the mental health of cancer survivors.

Preparing you for the anxiety that happens AFTER cancer is one place to start. So let’s talk about how it looks for cancer survivors with anxiety.

And if you’ve got some anxiety you’re dealing with after cancer, I’d like to give you one simple technique you can start using today that might help you create more calm in your life.

I’ve been reflecting over the past few days about what Brio IS right now. The Brio Blog opened one year ago this month and you have made it so much more than what it was a year ago. It started as a place to spread enthusiasm for using wellness - good food, mindfulness, and movement - as an empowering “medicine” to create vitality after cancer.

And what is it now, about 365 days later?

Brio is a community of motivated, hopeful cancer survivors who want not a new normal after cancer, but a new extraordinary, a community of people who will do everything it takes to get well and stay well after cancer.

I talk a lot about cancer survivor fatigue on this blog. I created Brio to focus on tackling fatigue in cancer survivors because it’s a common symptom and it’s a disruptive symptom, but it’s also symbolic of the cancer experience.

I’ve worked with so many exasperated cancer survivors who’ve essentially given up hope of having energy after cancer. They feel they’re destined for a life of chronic fatigue, of being less than they were before.

They’ve given up hope because everything they’ve tried hasn’t worked - they’re still tired, weak - and they’re convinced that nothing else will.

So let me extend an olive branch here, a gesture to encourage inner cancer survivor peace, and list a few things that don’t help you.

The internet is part of our world now, and for Cancer Survivors, that’s a great thing.

The medical research shows that online education is good for cancer survivors. The fact is, there will be 50 million cancer survivors by the year 2050. The more ways those survivors can access great health information to help themselves feel fantastic, the better!

Cancer survivors are at high risk for fatigue and malnutrition after cancer treatment. As a matter of fact, fatigue and malnutrition are closely linked.

Let’s explore this link because understanding how your nutritional status influences your energy levels will help you nourish your body. And a well nourished body is essential to reaching the level of vitality you want after cancer.

If there’s one thing I’m sure of, it’s that cancer makes many things about your life crystal clear, not the least of which is the knowledge that good health is downright precious. The experience of surviving cancer leaves you weary, grateful, and ready to do whatever it takes to get healthy in every way. Using this moment of clarity to make meaningful change just makes sense.

We’ve talked about the awesomeness of mindfulness on this blog many times. But it’s true that meditation is trendy in the wellness space right now - have you noticed? I’m fine with trends when they are rooted in science and can really help people. You know me - I want to know the why behind everything, like exactly how meditation changes the brain and if those changes can really help people after cancer feel better - less fatigued, more calm, and able to live their lives in the healthiest way possible.

It’s my deepest hope you’re getting all the tools you need to take care of yourself after all you’ve been through. I know your team wants that for you. But if you’re not getting it, I bet you’re frustrated as to why.

After treatment, many cancer survivors are underweight due to muscle wasting and poor nutrition. It can be a challenge to find sources of protein to rebuild while you are still dealing with decreased appetite and altered taste. A big juicy steak just doesn’t sound good at this time in your life.

Cancer survivors are strong by definition, but your muscles need to be strong too. People with cancer who undergo treatment are at particular risk for losing lean muscle mass. Strength training can help you restore lost muscle mass and benefit your overall health.

Cancer survivors can certainly benefit from applying the components of self compassion. I think of the cancer survivors I work with who punish themselves for “feeling lazy” due to their fatigue. Or who are ashamed of physical changes they’ve experienced due to cancer treatment. Or blame themselves for having cancer in the first place. They sit in judgement of themselves when they really deserve to pat themselves on the back, acknowledge their mistakes as part of being human, and just feel proud of doing their best.

I talk to cancer survivors every day who are pumped on getting well. And every day they ask me questions about the latest wellness trends they’ve heard about in a corner of the internet. Some of these trends are totally off base and I’ll be honest - there are times I’m dismayed at the money survivors spend on snake oil, gimmicks with no basis in scientific fact. The peddlers of medical lies are making a vast karmic mistake at the expense of a vulnerable group of people.